


in a trail of fire i know we will be free again🔥

by carrotsuno



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Everybody Lives, F/M, Fluff, Ghosts, Happy Ending, Mentions of hospitals, Post-Time Skip, Ushijima is a spirit medium whats not to love about that, Yachi went to Dateko but I never mentioned this, a few minor manga spoilers, but its not a ghost fic, even though…its kinda a ghost fic, i know no ones gonna read this but like, ive been informed thst it is fluff, just hanging out having a good time doing cute ghost stuff, yachi is the only one who can speak for the first 4000 words please support her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28226256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carrotsuno/pseuds/carrotsuno
Summary: is it wrong to befriend the ghost fire that haunts my kitchen???
Relationships: Yachi Hitoka/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	in a trail of fire i know we will be free again🔥

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SpaceKettleChips](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceKettleChips/gifts).



> Dedicated to Kettle 🫖
> 
> Part of The Orange Court's winter secret exchange!  
> The theme is fire! I ended up hyper focusing about ghost fires thinking so much about ghost fire Hua Cheng instead of thinking about campfires like normal people. No where near as traumatic as that TGCF arc, please don't worry jkldngjbelrsgjhlesirhglawkej it is regrettably a ghost fic…but it also isn't a ghost fic😅not really.  
> I hope you enjoy🥺
> 
> Title comes from [Propane Nightmares](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve4qfo7kXho)

Rainy season in Tokyo. The sound of torrential rain beat heavily down against Yachi’s umbrella. The symphony of rain sounds accompanied by Yachi’s work shoes sploshing along the pavement in a hurry. 

“Why do I wear heels to work?” Yachi whined to herself, desperately searching her coat pockets with one hand for her travel card.

This was the last bus for an hour. Thankfully the gods of luck had smiled down on her tonight, the driver waited for her giving her time to hop onto the bus before it pulled out of its stop. Yachi was thankful to escape the weather for a little while.

The sky above began to shatter with lightning; it was almost midnight, and all Yachi wanted to do was sleep. Stormy nights made her restless, but she kept hopeful in her heart the knowledge summer would always return after the darkness.

Yachi sat in a wet slump at the back of the bus, resting her head against the window. She watched the glowing lights of the city through the rising window condensation. She reached out wearily, pressing her finger against the cold glass drawing a smiley face, and sighed once more. The day had been very, very long. Yachi had planned on getting home before the forecasted storm, but as always, she had agreed to take on extra work helping out someone else's client. Consequently, doubling her workload. It wouldn’t have been so bad if her clients hadn’t demanded a complete change of design without extending the deadline for their ad campaign.

Yachi closed her eyes with a yawn, trying to calm her mind from racing overwork she could be doing. “Maybe I should have just moved into the office.” she pondered to herself. 

At least the journey home wasn’t a long one, she felt lucky to finally find an apartment in her price range that was only a short journey away. The apartment was slightly more expensive than her previous place, but it was worth it to not deal with nuisance neighbours, and the 4 am wake-up for work. It was an old building where she lived now, full of all sorts of haunted rumours, but Yachi tried her best to not think about sharing her home with a spirit. She had only moved in a few weeks, and everything was going well so far. No causes for concern.

Yachi dragged herself up the 4 flights of stairs to her floor, gripping the banister rail and physically pulled herself up the last few stairs. She was cold and damp, and just wanted to eat something warm before bed. 

Reaching her front door, she leaned against it to search for her key. Scrambling through the pile of trash, crumbs, receipts, and sweet wrappers; a fluffy frog-shaped keychain smiled up at her from inside her handbag, and she smiled back at him. Remembering friends back home. 

The peaceful moment was broken by a sudden burst of lightning, followed by a crash of thunder. Yachi jumped out of her skin as the buildings and street lamps around her plunged into darkness. Yachi sighed, sadly unlocking her apartment door hoping she had left the rice cooker on its warm setting. It wasn’t much, but at least there was a warm meal to eat. 

In the shadows of her apartment, Yachi bumped into every surface. She haphazardly changed into comfy clothes and patted at her previous self on the back for indeed leaving the rice cooker on. 

She plated up the warm rice in a bowl, thinking about what to add to it, and grabbed some chopsticks out of the draw. A crash of thunder made her jump again, dropping the chopsticks. She knelt, feeling about the floor to locate both of them. As she looked up, a bolt of lightning flashed in through her balcony doors. The thunder that followed caused the whole room to quake. Cold air ripped past her, freezing Yachi to the spot. In front of her, floating a metre above the floor, a palm-sized ball of blue fire. 

Before she had time to process the events, her legs moved before she. Yachi shrieked, running into her tiny bathroom, curling up in the empty bath.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no,” She repeated to herself in a state, burying her head into her knees. “No, no no no no, my apartment is haunted!” 

The storm raged on outside, filling Yachi’s apartment with sound. Above the noise, all Yachi could think about was the ghost fire in her kitchen.

“This is it. I have always thought that living in a bathroom is the best place to be trapped. Goodbye, everybody. Thank you mom for raising me. Sorry to everyone at the company who will have to take on my clients. This is it, I am never leaving this bath ever again.” she lamented to herself, staring at the moon shining down on her through her tiny bathroom window.

“Oh no!” Yachi sat up realising. “The ghost can still get in here if it wants!” Yachi panicked. “Oh no! Oh no! What should I do!” Yachi squished her face, trying to rack her brain for any ghost fighting tips she knew of. She wished she had listened to the old man who lived on the ground floor and let him exorcise her apartment before she moved in. 

“Salt!” she cried out, scrambling to her feet. “Salt will keep things out.”

Yachi held her breath and unlocked the bathroom door. 

Phone torch in hand, she tiptoed back into the kitchen, feeling a wave of relief to find it empty, and devoid of all light except hers. 

Yachi madly searched every cupboard in the kitchen for salt. She had not found the time to do a full food shop since she moved, and had nothing of use. Yachi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Why don’t I own salt.” her panicked hands checked the sodium content of every kitchen item. “Who doesn’t own salt!” she exasperated. “Why am I like this.” she laughed at herself.

Her hands fell upon a bag of MSG at the back of a cupboard. She gasped at the realisation, her face lighting up in the dark of the kitchen. Monosodium glutamate was basically salt right? This should work!

Yachi hurried around her apartment, throwing handfuls over her left shoulder as she piled MSG lines over her front door threshold, and along her windowsills. Quickly grabbing her now cold bowl of rice on the way, Yachi drew an MSG salt circle around her futon and sat shuddering from adrenaline under a bundle of blankets. 

Defeated, she sprinkled a little MSG over her rice. 

In a small sad voice, she spoke to the room. “Itadakimasu.”

Yachi spent the night tossing and turning in the darkness, waiting for the electricity to turn back on. Her mind wandered back to the light in her kitchen. Was it real? Did she overreact? Why did it show itself?

Yachi reached for her phone, internet searching the words “ghost fire.”

The Wikipedia article glowed back at her in the darkness with the words: 

_ ‘Onibi, a type of atmospheric ghost light. Often appearing on days of rain.'  _ Yachi continued to scroll through the information till her eyes hit the sentence.  _ ‘…humans who came close would have their spirit sucked out.’ _

“Nope.” Yachi tossed her phone across the room, in an attempt to stop fretting and tried her best to sleep it off.

When she awoke in the damp sunrise, hastily sneaking out of the apartment without venturing into the kitchen just in case. 

Her day at work was tiring enough that she forgot the entire ordeal of the previous night, burying her concerns into emails instead. Nothing like demanding clients to make you forget a haunting.

Making her way home in the rain once again, Yachi kicked off her work heels into the genkan and trudged her way into the kitchen. She was finally free to relax. Yachi pulled the hair bobble from her hair letting it down. Tea time, then sleep. 

Yachi yawned as she filled the kettle with water. She turned to face the cooker, bumping into a glowing object. “Ah!” she exclaimed. “Sorry!” apologising out of habit. “Wait…” Yachi paused, retracing the previous moment in her head.

Yachi had just bumped into the ghost fire from yesterday. As she made contact with it, it startled, disappearing into a wisp of smoke in a bright spark of light. 

She had just apologised to a ghost for scaring it.

Yachi laughed at the absurdity of the situation, setting the kettle down on a hob ring. 

“I just apologised to a ghost.” Yachi continued to chuckle, they had now spooked each other. The thing she was scared of, was scared of her too.

Yachi placed her hand over the gas ignition to set the water to boil, from the corner of her eye she noticed the ring was already glowing with a faint flame.

“Onibi-san?” she asked tentatively at the flame. “Is that you? Onibi-san?”

The flame flickered nervously in response as if it were trying to hide further into her cooker. Yachi giggled fondly at its shyness. 

The last month at work had been exhausting, and Yachi was certain she had lost her mind in the process.

“I’m sorry for startling you Onibi-san.” she moved the kettle to another ring exposing the ghost. “May I ask you a question?” 

The flame grew a little as if it wanted to respond to her, but couldn’t.

“Are you going to eat my soul?” she laughed nervously. The little flame didn’t know how to respond.

“Ok,” she pondered on a better solution to answering her worries. “How about, if you want to be my friend, please show yourself. If you want to hurt me…please stay where you are.” she took a step back, hoping to survive the night with her soul intact.

The little fire cautiously removed itself from its hiding place, its flames were small and unthreatening.

Yachi blushed faintly, watching the floating ghost fire in front of her. “Ok…so if you promise not to harm me. Would you like to be my friend?” Yachi had officially lost it, but if she was stuck with a ghost in her haunted apartment, she would rather it be a friendly one.

The little ghost blushed, a tinge of soft pinks fluttered temporarily through the shy flames. It swiftly hid behind the kettle, making Yachi giggle again.

“Cute.” she laughed to herself, peeking around to see the even smaller blushing flame. Against her better judgment, Yachi reached out to pet the ghost fire. Her hand vanished straight through the flames. It felt like nothing, as if she had just moved her hand through the cold morning air, it mystified her. “I hope we can live peacefully together till you’re strong enough to move on.” she spoke softly.

At first, Yachi regretted the decision to become friends with a ghost, but as the days became weeks, Yachi had come to appreciate the little ball of fire in her apartment. 

The ghost fire was respectful of Yachi and her privacy, never entering her bathroom or bedroom without her permission. It had even started to hang around her front door to greet her when she arrived home. Yachi had begun to make an effort to leave work on time, all in order to sit on the sofa with her little friend and watch their favourite weekly dramas.

The ghost had become more confident around her, Yachi wondered if it was all in her imagination, or if it was glowing brighter than the night it first appeared.

After long and tiring days from work, Yachi would come home and collapse onto her sofa. The ghost fire would join her as if it wanted to support her through her troubles. Who needs a therapist when you can talk to a ghost.

Yachi exhaled a frustrated groan, she had been lamenting to the ghost for the last hour about her deadlines. “At least after tomorrow, I will have a weekend to myself.” she sighed, squishing her face into the couch cushion.

The little ghost fire nuzzled into the top of her head, trying to pat her, telling her she’s got this and she can do it. Yachi smiled fondly at the light touch. “Wait!” she was amazed.

Yachi sat upright, turning to face the ghost fire. “I felt that!” she exclaimed with a smile. “You are getting stronger Onibi-san.” Yachi opened her hand out for the ghost fire to sit in her palm. It gently sat in her hand, fanning its flames softly. Yachi giggled at the feeling. “Haha, hey that tickles.”

It was finally the weekend, and the rainy season was officially over. Summer was around the corner. The air was warm, with a light breeze tousling Yachi’s hair as she sat on her balcony drinking tea. Yachi watched the sunset over the city, staring up at the stars twinkling in the sky. 

Yachi felt the air move around her and turned to notice her ghost friend sitting across the table from her.

Yachi beamed. “Hey. Come to join me?” 

The ghost fire nodded in reply.

“The sky is so beautiful tonight.” Yachi’s eyes crinkled as she smiled amongst the glowing pink sky. “Finally free of the clouds, the stars have come out of hiding.” Yachi pointed to the north star sparkling back at her. “Over there, that star,” she sat upright a little to stretch her gaze. “I think that bright red star isn't a star, I think it is Mars.” she smiled tucking the front of her hair behind her ear. The little ghost was interested in every word she had to say. “The moon is so big tonight too.” the large crescent moon smiled down on the two of them. “The moon is really beautiful tonight, don’t you think?…oh!” Yachi instinctively blushed replaying the words in her head. 

The ghost fire flickered like it was caught off guard. 

“Oh. OH!” she looked at the ghost in shock. “I, I.” she stuttered, waving her hands frantically. “I didn’t mean it like that, I didn’t mean it.” As she flustered, the breeze picked up, whistling past her, taking the ghost fire with it. “Wait!” she called after the disappearing ghost light. “Don’t go!”

Yachi raced into the kitchen, desperately looking out for anything to capture the ghost with. She grabbed a large glass jar out of her recycling box, and sprinted down the stairs, chasing after the ghost.

Yachi came to a halt, a few steps before street level. Standing on the bottom step, Yachi noticed she had run out of the apartment in her house slippers and pyjamas. She was chasing after a ghost.

“Isn’t this for the best?” she thought in a daze. “I’m no longer being haunted by something that could take my soul. Isn’t this for the best?”

She stepped onto the street, clutching the jar close to her chest. Tears began to shimmer in her eyes. “Why does this feel like losing a friend.”

Yachi walked bewildered around her apartment building, stepping slowly in the direction the wind took the ghost fire.

“What am I doing.” Yachi yearned, dragging her feet as she walked. 

She stood in the back street and looked up at the cloudless setting sky. It was darker now, and the stars were the brightest they had been since the start of the rain.

She sighed, defeated. 

She was about to turn back. Then she noticed out of the corner of her eye, a familiar flicker of blue flames popping out from an air conditioning unit on the side of the next building.

“Onibi-san!” she called out. Trapped between the vents, what looked like to be her ghost friend. Yachi skipped over to the unit. “Onibi-san is that you?” The ghost fire wriggled about, furiously trying to free itself. “It’s ok! I’m here to help you.” Yachi reached as high as she could, doing her best to untangle the trembling ghost.

With a coordinated struggle, the two of them pulled the ghost fire out from its trap, and Yachi placed it safely in her jar, covering the top with her hand.

She let a small laugh out at the absurdity of the situation, hugging the jar tightly. “What am I going to do with you, eh?”

Yachi walked the stairs back to her apartment, jar still close to her chest. The ghost fire settled in the bottom of the jar, the light it radiated lit up the stairwell in an ethereal blue glow. 

On the second floor, Yachi hesitated, shuffling her feet unsure. Her friend Aone lived on the second floor. He was maybe the only person she could divulge her current concerns too.

Despite her embarrassment of sharing her secret, she knocked on Aone’s door. It wasn’t too late in the evening, and Aone should be at home.

After a few moments of wondering whether she should back away, Aone opened the door to Yachi. 

When he noticed it was her, his mouth lifted into a warm smile. His gaze switched down to the glowing jar in her arms, and his brow instantly furrowed in confusion.

“Aone, I need your help.” she shuffled in her spot nervously.

Aone looked down to see her stood in her house slippers and pulled an expression of concern. He opened his door, letting her into the genkan, finding a pair of fresh disposable slippers he stole from a hotel once and kept aside for guests.

“Thanks, Aone.” Yachi exchanged her jar for the slippers. She apprehensively handed him the jar, hoping the ghost wouldn’t fly out of the open top. She trusted Aone enough not to drop the jar.

Aone held the jar up to his face, carefully placing his hand over the top mimicking how Yachi had held the jar. He watched the ghost fire try to shrink its size, hiding out of embarrassment in its glass cage.

Yachi stepped up into the hallway, reaching out for Aone to pass the jar back to her. “This is my new friend,” she spoke sheepishly, accepting the jar back. “It has been haunting my apartment for over a month, I’m not sure what to do. So I came for your advice.”

Aone pondered for a moment, showing Yachi into the living room. Yachi sat on the sofa, keeping an eye on Aone’s response, and her ghost friend.

Aone looked at Yachi, raising an eyebrow.

Yachi blushed. “Yeh…you’re correct. I am quite attached to him.” she let out a self-conscious laugh admitting to herself for the first time. “I want to let him go…but I can’t.” Yachi looked up at Aone, who met her eyes with a smirk. Yachi realised she had called her ghost a “him.” Yachi cringed into herself. She hoped the ghost couldn’t hear her through the glass.

Aone patted her shoulder reassuringly. He stood up, searching for a spare piece of paper, and a pen. 

“Ah!” Yachi understood what his plan was. “Kokkuri-san?” 

Aone nodded.

Yachi sat opposite Aone at his kotatsu, watching Aone carefully write out the spirit board.

“Is this a good idea?” Yachi wondered aloud. “The building is haunted, I don’t want to awaken anything in your apartment.” Aone shrugged in response. “Do you want me to make a salt circle? I have a huge bag of MSG to use up.” Aone raised his eyebrows at her suggestion, a laugh between his lips, placing a coin over the gates instead.

After a moment of reluctance, Yachi placed the jar on the table beside the paper. She positioned her finger on top of the coin, along with Aone, and spoke for the both of them. “Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, if you are here, please say yes.”

The two of them looked at the ghost fire with anticipation. The little ghost hovered above their coin, pushing their hands towards ‘yes’.

Yachi held her breath. She had spoken so many words to the ghost, suddenly she had no idea what to ask him.

Aone gently bumped his fingertip against hers, snapping her back into breathing. He nodded, his small smile reassured her to go ahead.

“Onibi-san, what is your name.” Yachi knew the question was silly, most spirits kept their name to themselves, but Yachi hoped to get the answer.

The ghost fire dragged the coin over the characters, Yachi read them aloud. “Ya Ma Gu Chi. Ta Da Shi.” she smiled at the ghost fire, letting out a laugh. “Nice to meet you Yamaguchi-san. My name is Yachi Hitoka, this is my friend Aone-kun.” she introduced.

Yamaguchi dragged the coin spelling out “Nice to meet you too, Yachi-san.”

Yachi giggled, shaking a little from adrenaline.

She tried to choose her words carefully, not to upset the ghost. “Do you know how you died?” she spoke quietly.

Yamaguchi spelled out, “Not dead.”

Yachi stared at Aone stunned, Aone furrowed his brow in confusion at the ghost. Yachi had a thousand things running through her mind, and no words to speak aloud. 

She stammered noises thinking.

Yamaguchi dragged the coin laboriously along the board spelling out. “Not dead. Alive. Trapped. Can’t get back.” He slumped against Yachi’s hand, visibly tired.

Yachi used her free hand to pet the exhausted flame. “We need something better than this.” she sighed. “Shall we stop?”

Yamaguchi pushed the coin to ‘yes’.

“Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, thank you for answering our questions. Please leave through the gate.” Yachi spoke as the three of them pushed the coin back.

Aone placed the coin back in his pocket, and Yachi removed her hands too. Yamaguchi set the paper on fire, quickly burning it into ash, leaving wisps of smoke hanging in the air.

Yachi opened her hand for Yamaguchi to sit in her palm, whilst Aone tidied the ash from the table.

“What can we do?” she wondered aloud, watching the tired ghost rest in her hands. “Oh!” she quickly shot her head up to look at Aone. He quickly understood and nodded like he was speaking the next words in unison with her. “Ushijima-san!”

It was now 9 pm by the time they reached Ushijima’s apartment. Yachi had bundled the jar, with Yamaguchi inside under her jacket. The two of them took the metro together to Ushijima’s place. The perks of Aone being intimidatingly 6ft 4 acted like a beacon for people to keep their distance, and for once, Yachi was thankful that people misjudged him. 

Stepping up to the apartment doorbell, Yachi hovered her hand over the buzzer and silently prayed that Ushijima wouldn’t be upset by her emergency need for his supernatural expertise. 

Ushijima had been a practicing spirit medium from an early age. If there was anyone who was a specialist in contacting the other side, it was Ushijima.

Ushijima opened the door to his apartment finding Yachi, Aone, and a glowing jar waiting for him outside.

“Ushijima-san.” Yachi bowed forwards, clutching the jar tightly. Yamaguchi bowed along with her, even if it wasn’t obvious. “I request your psychic assistance, I apologise that it is so late. Please forgive me.”

“Hitoka-san, stand up, it’s not a problem,” Ushijima spoke softly. “I wish you had informed me then I would have tidied up for you.” Ushijima opened his front door letting them in. “Aone-san, Hitoka-san, please come in.”

Yachi and Aone shared a look, and thought at the same time,  _ “you live with Sakusa Kiyoomi how untidy could it possibly be.” _

As expected, the entire apartment was spotless. Ushijima hung in the doorway to the living room, letting Sakusa know they had guests. Yachi peeped around Ushijima to see Sakusa sat on the sofa under a bundle of blankets. She waved to Sakusa, forgetting each time she met him what the rest of his face looked like without a mask on.

Ushijima took Yachi and Aone to sit at the kitchen table, and Yachi did her best to explain everything up till now.

Ushijima pondered her story, and Yamaguchi’s situation, his eyebrows knitting together in thought.

“I wondered if we could hold a seance to speak to him.” Yachi concluded.

Ushijima nodded. “I think that should be possible.” he stood from the table, “However, I will cleanse the room before we start.” Aone and Yachi shared a look, both as confused as the other. “You probably need to cover the jar, just in case your spirit is evil.” Yachi suddenly felt tense at the thought. “Oh,” Ushijima added. “If both of you could wash your hands that would help too.” Ushijima left the room.

Aone shrugged at Yachi, making her let out a laugh in confusion, breaking her tension. The whole evening had been a whirlwind of events and she was blindly accepting everything coming to her.

Ushijima meticulously moved around every corner of his apartment, cedarwood smudge stick in hand. Yachi had plugged the top of the jar with her jacket, apologising to Yamaguchi that it wouldn’t be for long. She knew he wasn’t an actual fire, but her mind still raced deliberating if a lack of oxygen would burn his flames out.

The strong scent of cedar had flushed Sakusa out of his blanket cave, leading him to the kitchen to make tea. “Is he doing weird ghost stuff again?” Sakusa mumbled to Yachi in a yawn.

Aone nodded, confirming he was indeed doing ‘weird ghost shit’. 

Sakusa cracked a smile and blushed sheepishly. “I guess I’m going to be roped into this too.” he rolled his eyes. Sakusa made tea for the 4 of them whilst they waited for Ushijima to free the apartment from evil.

Finally, the apartment was cleansed. Ushijima sat at the table once more.

Ushijima sighed, gazing across at Sakusa giving him a tired look of longing.

Sakusa huffed a laugh, sipping the last of his tea. “I will help you, but only because I can’t sleep when the house smells this strong.”

“Thank you, Kiyoomi-kun, I appreciate you every day.” Ushijima smiled, happy that Sakusa was willing to enable him.

“Ok. If we are all ready and present,” Ushijima stood from the table, turning the main light off, leaving the lamp in the hallway, and Yamaguchi as their only sources of light. “Yachi, please place Yamaguchi in the centre of the table.”

Yachi did as she was told. Yamaguchi followed, rising from the jar apprehensive about what was to come.

Ushijima sat directly opposite Yachi and placed his hand's palm up on the table. “If everybody could join hands.” Yachi now understood why Ushijima had asked them to have clean hands, it was for Sakusa.

Sakusa took Yachi and Ushijima’s hands, leaving Aone to complete the circle placing his hands over Ushijima and Yachi’s.

Ushijima closed his eyes muttering under his breath. 

Yachi felt a chill creep over her. She daren’t take her eyes off the ghost fire in front of her.

Yamaguchi started to flicker like he was caught in a breeze. His sparks getting wildly brighter the more Ushijima muttered.

The room seemed to suddenly tumble into a deep stillness. Yachi could hear her heart pounding.

“Hi, Yachi.” a faint-hearted voice rang through her head. Yachi gasped loudly, looking over her shoulder to find the sound. It was a voice she had never heard before in her memory. Probably a boy’s voice, it sang soft, an anxious tone. The voice let out a nervous chuckle. “Please breathe.” the voice asked.

“Yamaguchi?” she stuttered aloud, watching the ghost fire. “Are you there?”

“Yes,” he replied. The fire in front of her bowed forwards in a greeting. “It’s nice to finally talk back to you.”

Yachi’s cheeks felt warm. “It’s nice to hear your voice, Yamaguchi-kun.”

Ripples of pink flashed through the ghost fire.

“If talking is hard, I can ask Ushijima to transcribe.” Yachi suggested.

Yamaguchi shook his head. “It’s fine. I would like to speak to you directly, no matter how tiring.”

Yachi internally squealed, wishing she could hide her face in her hands.

Yachi steadied herself, trying to choose her words. “When we spoke earlier. You mentioned you were trapped.”

“Ah,” Yamaguchi hummed. “Yeh.”

Yachi paused, carefully meeting her gaze with the ghost fire.

“It’s a little embarrassing to admit what happened.” he let out another nervous chuckle. “It all happened so fast…” he paused. “Can anyone else hear me?” Yamaguchi asked, his ghost spinning to look at each person.

“I can hear you.” Ushijima replied. “Just Yachi, and myself.”

Yamaguchi let out a reluctant huff, his ghost self sinking into a puddle on the table, hiding. “I was playing volleyball with my friends, for the first time in a very long time. One of my friends, Hinata, is a professional player…and you see…he served the ball into the back of my head knocking me out… by accident of course!” Yamaguchi stressed the last part, flashing light with concern. “It must have knocked my soul out, and I’ve been trapped like this ever since.” Yamaguchi moved closer to Yachi, pretending it was only her in the room. “I know it’s strange but I am glad it happened…so that we could meet.”

Yachi blushed self-consciously, remembering that Ushijima could hear the whole conversation. Her face glowed warm surrounded by Yamaguchi’s light, she wanted to reach out to him but didn’t want to break the communication circle.

“So, where are you now?” she asked hushed. “Where is your body?”

Yamaguchi floated back toward the centre of the table. “I’m unsure, but I think I’m in the hospital. Sometimes I can hear voices talking to me, but I can’t quite pick out what they’re saying. Nor can I speak back to them.” he sighed. “I tried to find my way back, but I’ve not been physically strong enough to leave your apartment till tonight. I think we’re linked together somehow.”

Yachi’s expression was sad. Her stomach flipped at the idea of being linked to Yamaguchi in some way. She wasn’t the strongest believer in the red string of fate, or fate in general, but she had to admit that maybe she was as drawn to Yamaguchi as he was her. 

She tried to comprehend everything her new friend had spoken to her, thoughts racing on what she could do to help.

“Ushijima-kun. How can we get him back?” Yachi’s voice was saturated with desperation.

Ushijima considered the idea. “If the soul can only orbit around your space in his fire form, then you will need to take him to reunite the soul with his body.”

Yachi continued to watch the glowing light in front of her, the responsibility weighing heavily on her chest. She paused, looking back at Ushijima in need of assistance. “Could you drive me to the hospital?”

Ushijima dropped Yachi off at the main entrance of the hospital that Yamaguchi was convinced he was inside. It was empty in the front reception, the only sound the tick from a clock on the wall above reception, echoing through the large cold medical space. Yachi was well aware that visiting time had ended hours ago, she kept her fingers crossed hoping that the night receptionist wouldn’t turn her away.

Yachi took in a deep breath, and marched her way up to the front desk. She crossed her fingers tightly, hoping the receptionist to be sympathetic to the panicked mess in front of him. Yachi gripped at the jar hidden inside her jacket under her arm for moral support.

“Excuse me,” Yachi began, grabbing the attention of the person behind the computer. “Do you know which ward Yamaguchi Tadashi is staying on?”

The receptionist lifted his eyebrow. “I am sorry Miss, I can not divulge private information.”

“Please.” Yachi placed her hand upon the counter. “I need to see him.” she stressed.

“I am truly sorry, but I cannot divulge patient information.” he repeated, with a compassionless face, continuing to type.

“Please, sir.” Yachi stood on her tiptoes, trying to make eye contact over the computer screen. “I really need to see my friend. It is important.” Yachi was close to spiraling, racking her brain on the best way for her to sneak in during tomorrow’s visiting hours.

“I apologise once again Miss, information is restricted to family only.” he pushed.

“I’m.” she stuttered. Thinking of a plan. “I am…” she blushed deeply trying to get her mouth to say the words out loud. “I am Yamaguchi Tadashi’s girlfriend, he has been unconscious for 5 weeks, and I really need to see him.” She hid her face inside her jacket, dying with embarrassment. “Please, I am desperate to know if he’s doing well.” Her voice was shaking.

The receptionist sighed. “The family hasn’t listed that he has a partner,” Yachi deflated. “But, I guess given the circumstances, I will search him on the system for you.”

Yachi’s eyes stung from happy tears.  _ YES! _ She was terrible at lying, the guilt of breaking privacy rules hung heavy in her chest, but she was on a mission! It was all for the greater good.

“Thank you so much.” she sobbed, racing towards the stairs.

Yachi reached the intensive care ward number the receptionist had written down. She hid around the corner from the entrance, and untucked Yamaguchi from under her arm to speak to him.

“Does this feel right?” she asked, her teeth chattering from the adrenaline of lying.

He nodded.

She sucked in a deep breath. “Are you ready?”

He nodded, with more confidence this time.

“Let’s do this!” Yachi beamed.

Yachi stared down the door buzzer of the hospital ward entrance. It was almost midnight, and this was the last obstacle. She squeezed her eyes and pressed the buzzer as hard as she could. “I can do this.” she reminded herself. “We can do this.”

Her eyes still tightly closed, Yachi heard the sound of the door click open.

“Hello? May I help you?” a nurse's voice called out.

“Oh.” Yachi snapped her head around. She dread to think about what she looked like. It was nearly midnight and Yachi hadn’t brushed her hair since the day before. With no makeup on and her eyes puffy from crying tears of relief, her face was also red from blushing. She stood strangely holding a concealed object under her windbreaker jacket, contrasting with her fluffy pink star print pyjama bottoms, and ankle boots. “I’m here to see my boyfriend. I’m sorry it’s so late.” she physically shook worrying.

“Ok.” the nurse spoke in a kind voice, taking one look at the state of her, and feeling pity. “Come in, have you visited before?”

If she was bold enough, Yachi would have given the nurse the biggest hug. 

This was it! The final hurdle had been crossed.

Yamaguchi was in a side room by himself. It meant that although the visit although unorthodox, it wasn’t disturbing any of the other patients.

Yachi stood rooted to the spot. Her heart beating wildly out of her chest watching the stranger lay in front of her. Except, he didn’t feel like a stranger at all. 

She could tell he was tall, not a giant like Aone or Ushijima, but then again everyone was tall to her. His skin was peppered with tiny freckles, like constellations in the night sky, a map of stars all over him. Yachi internally scream at how endearing she thought it was. Of course, he had cute freckles. Of course. 

‘Get Well Soon’ cards sat upon the bedside table, well wishes from family and friends between the hospital machines that stirred Yachi’s stomach. “I’m sorry I didn’t visit sooner.” She spoke into the darkness.

Slowly, step by step, Yachi sat down in the chair beside the bed. She clicked the bedside lamp on to its lowest setting, giving just enough of a warm glow to see the boy in front of her sleeping peacefully. Her trembling hands unzipped her jacket, holding the jar in her lap.

The ghost fire rose from the jar, nudging himself against her left hand in thanks. Yachi patted the orb of cold flames for one last time, the cool temperature tingling her fingertips like she had dipped her hands in fresh powdery snow. She moved her hands across to hold Yamaguchi’s hand. Placing his between hers. 

The ghost fire rose above Yamaguchi’s body, its colour sparkling from blue to bright white. Yachi shielded her eyes from the light, squinting through to watch the orb of light disperse into thousands of tiny embers raining down over the bed. She gripped tightly onto Yamaguchi’s hands, waiting for the light to disperse.

“Yamaguchi-kun?” she whispered, watching the machines intently to see if there were any changes. “Yamaguchi-kun?” she brought his hands close to her. “Yamaguchi-kun…” leaning forwards, she placed a small kiss on the back of his hand. “I’m here.”

He gently squeezed back with the hand she kissed. 

It was a small movement, but Yachi felt it like a shockwave. “Yamaguchi-kun!” she called out, standing out of her chair, knocking it over. “I’m here,” she called out again. 

She held her breath, carefully watching for movement in his face, and movements in the machine stats. 

It all happened in a wave of emotions, she leant forwards and placed a small sweet kiss on his forehead. Hovering over his face, gently cupping a hand on his face. “Please wake up Yamaguchi-kun.” her words barely audible. She sighed, placing their foreheads together. “I’m here for you.”

The room was quiet, the sound of the machines the only thoughts in Yachi’s head.

“Yachi-san.” a weak voice croaked out. 

Yachi gasped, pulling her head away to see Yamaguchi, blinking up at her with his long eyelashes. With his free hand, he reached out to hold her face too. Her relieved tears bubbling out again. “Yachi-san, I’m here for you too.”

  
  


* * *

**🔥-Epilogue-🔥**

* * *

“Aone-kun, I just don’t know what to do I’m freaking out.” Yachi was furiously babbling down the phone to Aone on FaceTime.

It had been 2 weeks since Yamaguchi had come round, and tonight, he and Yachi were going on a date.

“But it isn’t really a date, we’re just meeting up. It’s not a date.” her constant downplaying of the situation made Aone smirk. “Don’t pull that face at me, it’s not a date, it’s not.” she continued to fret. “I need to stop worrying so much about it.”

Yachi was sat in front of her bedroom mirror furiously curling her hair. She had been on a video call to Aone for the past hour.

“We’re just two friends meeting up…….Oh, Aone-kun what am I meant to do if it is a date?” she whined, watching the steam fly off her hair. “I should have just used my heated rollers for this…Aone what if he doesn’t like me? What if it’s weird? What if we don’t know what to talk about!!” she lamented at a thousand words per minute, Aone continued to reply in his comforting silence.

Yachi started to set her curls with hairspray, breathing in the cloud of plastic particles making her cough. She wafted fresh air around her, watching Aone’s face staring at her incredulously. “You’re right, you’re right.” she sighed. “I need to stop panicking. We lived together for 5 weeks, he’s not a complete stranger.” she smiled back at Aone. “Aone-kun, you always know the right things to say. Thank you.”

They decided to meet at the train station, then make their way to the fireworks festival in town over the weekend. 

Yachi was early. 15 whole minutes early, all down to her nerves.

She sat twiddling her phone between her hands considering calling Aone for another pep talk. Yachi knew she was overreacting, it wasn’t a date…but what if it…was a date.

A voice snapped her out of her worrying. “Yachi-san.”

Yachi let out a little yelp, jumping up from her seat turning around to face Yamaguchi. 

Yamaguchi stood a whole 30cm taller than her, the sight of him, as his true self caught her off guard. Her chest felt tight wanting to hug him.  _ “Oh no, he’s so tall and cute.” _

“Hey, you’ve had a hair cut?” Yachi commented in a stutter. When they first met in the hospital, Yamaguchi’s hair was long, down past his ears, now it was shorter at the sides, but still fluffy with a little sprig of hair at the top. “It suits you.” her face started to turn pink.

Yamaguchi dipped his head a little, bashfully. “Thank you. Your hair looks really nice too.” a matching shade of pink glowed behind his freckled face. “You look really nice today Yachi-san.”

The two of them shared a nervous laugh, they were both as shy as each other.

“Ah, I brought you a gift.” Yamaguchi pulled a candle out of his bag, that was topped with a blue ribbon tied in a bow. “Something for you to remember the time we spent together by.” he laughed passing her the candle jar.

Yachi burst out laughing with him. “Thank you, I don’t think I could forget the last month if I tried.”

She bundled the gift into her handbag and smiled fondly up at Yamaguchi. “I’ve felt so nervous about meeting up all day.” she admitted.

“Oh, me too.” Yamaguchi’s declaration of nerves reassured her anxious heart. “I didn’t sleep last night.” he nervously fluffed the back of his hair.

“Neither did I!” Yachi laughed out, pushing all her nerves away. She sighed, linking her arm in his, dragging him onwards. “Come on. Let’s forget all this and go visit the festival, I’m hungry.”

Yamaguchi was happily pulled along, blushing pinker at her touch. “My friend’s teammate’s brother has an onigiri stall here,” he spoke softly. “I really wanna try some, he still doesn’t have a Tokyo store yet.”

“Mmm!” Yachi hummed, “I want some too!”

The festival was lively, bustling with many people packed into every part of the street surrounding the stalls. The smell of the food stalls was making Yachi’s mouth water wanting to eat everything.

Yachi and Yamaguchi made their way through the crowds to the Onigiri Miya stall, sampling one of every flavour.

“My stomach is going to burst after eating 8 onigiri in one sitting.” Yachi laughed, sitting down on a free bench in the park beside the festival stalls.

Yamaguchi laughed back at her. “Mine too. We could always save some for later, but they do better when they are fresh.”

Yachi took a bite of an umeboshi filled onigiri, “Mmm!” she hummed delighted by the still-warm onigiri. “This is delicious!”

“Right!” Yamaguchi ready to bite into his karaage filled onigiri. “Onigiri Miya is my favourite part of visiting Osaka. I wish I could do it more often.”

The two of them spent the evening chatting, realising that both of them came from near Sendai, Yamaguchi had moved to Tokyo after getting an apprenticeship at a big electronics company earlier in the year.

“I can’t believe we’ve never met before.” Yachi was still in disbelief shaking her head. “Nearly all my friends, out of work, are volleyball players.”

“Mine too, from back home. My best friend Tsukki’s team has almost enough wins to make it to league one.” Yamaguchi boasted excitedly.

“Tsukki??” Yachi’s eyes were wide leaning forwards. “Tsukishima from the Sendai Frogs?”

“Yes! Do you know him!” Yamaguchi spoke over her, as excited and bewildered as Yachi.

“Not really, but I’m good friends with Kogane-kun and KyouKen! How have we never met before!?” Yachi laughed shaking her head. 

“We probably have met,” Yamaguchi was laughing along with her. “We just didn’t realise it.”

“It’s like we were always destined to meet, but just hadn’t had the chance.” Yachi turned to meet Yamaguchi’s gaze. The night was starting to set around them, the stars were beginning to appear in the sky, dancing around Yamaguchi, making Yachi’s heart beat a little bit faster.

“Thank you, for everything.” Yamaguchi twiddled his hands nervously, looking down at his feet. “When the hospital called my family, to let them know I was awake, they told them ‘my girlfriend’ was with me when I woke up.” 

Yachi felt instantly mortified, hiding her face in her hands. “I am so sorry!” her yell muffled. She doubling over in a deep bow. “Please forgive me, it was the only way to see you.”

“It’s fine. I know what you had to say, I was with you at the time.” Yamaguchi let out a soft chuckle, putting his hand on her shoulder. “I just wanted to talk to you about it, to let you know. My parents were surprised I hadn’t told them, but I told them we hadn’t put a name to it yet.”

Yachi peaked through her fingers open to watch Yamaguchi, sitting up again. His face was redder than hers.

“There’s no pressure from anyone for you to pretend to be my girlfriend or meet my family. I don’t want to put pressure on you, on whatever this friendship is that we have.” he took in a deep breath, gripping at his own hands tightly, trying to stop them shaking, searching for the words he wanted. “I want to be your friend Yachi. But if you would like it to be more than that, I wanted to let you know that I would be that for you. I would like to get to know you, and you to know me.”

“Yamaguchi-kun.” Yachi’s voice was small carried by a gentle breeze, swirling its way into the night. She watched at the way Yamaguchi tied his own fingers into knots. His face was calm, but she could tell behind the kindly smile, he carried a concern that he spoke the wrong thing.

“Yamaguchi-kun” she gently placed her hands over his, stopping his fidgeting. “Yamaguchi-kun, I spent weeks complaining at you, about my work dilemmas. You know so much about me. Of course, I want to get to know you! I also…” she sucked in a large breath, quashing all her tumbling thoughts away to say the words. “I would like to be more than just your friend Yamaguchi-kun. I think we really do have a connection. I want to find out why we were brought together. I want to give this a chance.”

The fireworks display sprang into life above them. Yamaguchi and Yachi both looked up, the echoing sound of the bang reminded Yachi of the first night she met Yamaguchi in her kitchen. She turned her gaze to look at him, watching him surrounded by the twinkling sky. She laughed, gently holding his face in her hand. His cheeks were warm. Yamaguchi blinked back at Yachi, the two of them enamoured by each other.

“I really really like you Ya-chan.” Yamaguchi’s whisper rang clear above the noise of the fireworks.

Yachi closed the distance between them, giving him a gentle kiss. Yamaguchi moved his hand over hers, kissing her back just as sweetly. It felt like they were the only two in the world.

Yachi smiled into Yamaguchi’s touch, resting their foreheads together. “I really really like you too Yamaguchi-kun.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading and getting this far………i hope this wasnt too chaotic and weird lmao  
> Usually I make a playlist when I'm writing but this time my only writing saviour was listening to Pendulum's entire discography like its 2008 and drum and bass is ok to admit liking even if you are emo 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣stan [In Silico.](https://open.spotify.com/album/6eRDE48ttoLqN2VfkEpPOJ?si=GuxF1xrWTvCCBCWnlgOiqg)


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